Ricochet is the SURFice dog that has come a long way since training to become a service dog. Ricochet failed her training as she was more interested in watching and chasing squirrels and birds. Her owner, Judy Fridono, decided to allow her to be a dog and see where that would take them. Ricochet loved the water and loved to help people, so Judy decided to make the two possible. Ricochet helps disabled people surf. Ricochet is a surfing dog, thus the name SURFice dog. Ricochet also helps with raising awareness’s to different charities and helping to raise donations for them. With this she was nominated in the American Humane Association’s Hero Dog Awards. This is not her first time winning an award for her paws-sitively great look on life.
The American Humane Association Hero Dog Award was presented on October 1st in Beverly Hills, CA. It was at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and had a star studded event with people like Victoria Stillwell of Animal Planet’s “It’s Me or the Dog” show, peter Fonda, Orlando Brown, Michelle Forbes of True Blood, Rin Tin Tin, Betty White and even Joey Lawrence. The event was hosted by Carson kressley from “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”. The event will be aired on the Hallmark Channel on November 11th. Ricochet was escorted down the red carpet by Victoria Stillwell and posed for pictures. Ricochet was one of eight finalists out of 453 contestants that were honored that night.
Ricochet won the Emerging Hero Award for all of her inspirational and “paw it forward” efforts she provides to people. The start of Ricochet was with her YouTube video “From service dog to SURFice dog” that has now been viewed by over 3.6 million viewers. Since then she has helped raise over $125,000 in donations for humans and animals in need. She loves what she does and she does it so well. She seems to be the only dog who surfs with special needs children and disabled adults to help them accomplish something that they normally would not have been able to do in the first place. She helps provide support and stability while on the surfboard for them. In her acceptance speech, handler/owner Judy Fridono said "We are so grateful to the American Humane Association for giving us this incredible platform to raise awareness of Ricochet's causes, she's raised over $125,00 for humans and animals in need, and this opportunity will allow us to help many others."
Each dog’s story was shared in a video tribute which brought many people to tears. This was an emotional time for some, as one of the dogs that was awarded the American Hero Dog of the Year Award but had passed over the Rainbow Bridge this past June. That was Roselle, a guide dog who led her blind handler/owner down 78 flights of stairs in Tower One of the World Trade Center back from 9/11. Each dog that was awarded that night will also receive a $5,000 donation for their designated American Humane Association Charity Partner. They also receive a Hero Dog Sculpture.
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